Hi All,
So after my accident in Feb I have been mulling over the different legal options available to me.
It would appear there are numerous different ways that solicitors can charge you for their time. Although I don’t expect to be paying any costs as the driver of the vehicle has admitted liability for the accident, I will be paying a success fee.
This ranges from nothing, through 15% of incurred costs to up to 15% of any award, not exceeding 100% of incured costs.
The obvious no brainer is to go for the solicitors asking for nothing on top of their costs. But the most expensive has a very good reputation and is a specialist for this sort of thing (and has also impressed me with contact so far) and the one in the middle is a member of my family whom has a private practice…
Obviously I want to get the best award I can, who wouldn’t, but there is a lot of uncertainty here making the choice a diffcult one. I think the case is pretty open and shut, but I’m not a lawyer!
So I’ve set up a little spreadsheet based on an estimate of the hourly rate a lawyer charges, the number of hours worked on my case and a range of awards which are plausable.
The biggest known unknown for me in this model is the expected number of hours work on the case.
Can anyone give me a realistic range of hours a case like mine (knocked off bicycle, smashed knee, self employed although only promises of work available, off work since then…) might take? I’ve currently got a range from 50 to 200 hours. Thoughts?
Cheers,
Dom